BOSTON (CBS/AP) – With stores in several states starting Black Friday early this year on Thanksgiving, shoppers in Massachusetts were forced by the Commonwealth’s Blue Laws to stick to traditional shopping hours.

That didn’t stop the crowds from showing up just after midnight on Friday at the malls and stores.

The long line outside the Best Buy Watertown at 1 a.m. Friday. (Photo by Fausto Menard)

Joe Russell was hunting for a great deal on a large flat-screen TV and went to the Best Buy store in Watertown.

But the long line of shoppers gunning for door-buster promotions deterred him from braving the freezing temperatures.

So Russell returned to the store after sunrise and got a different TV for “a decent price.”

Analysts expect to see about a four-percent growth in retail sales this season, roughly the same as last year. However, Forrester Researchers believes online sales will jump 15-percent.

Customers fighting crowds for door-buster deals said they do it mostly because it’s tradition for them

“It’s the thrill of the hunt. It’s almost like a sport,” said Lisa Burrows who made shirts and hats for the occasion.

Burrows and her mother, Isabella Coates, have been bargain hunting the day after Thanksgiving for more than 20 years. Now grandchildren and in-laws join the team, wearing softball shirts that say “Bella’s Annual Black Friday Shopping Extravaganza.”

Sister-in-law Ann Coates says the half-dozen women work together to snag the biggest deals.

“[Burrows] got one item, I got another and then [daughter] Brittany came in with the carriage. It’s a lot of strategy,” said Coates.